Pendulous display



March 12, 1963 DE vRlES L 3,081,058

PENDULOUS DISPLAY Filed Dec. 12, 1960 INV TORS FRED DE Z5253 1 16.7 By a. mew? x/zc/rsa A TTOKA/EVS United States Patent PENDULOUS DISPLAY Fred De Vries, Grandville, and Charles Wilbur Hecksel, Spring Lake, Mich.; said Hecksel assignor to said De Vries Filed Dec. 12, 1960, Ser. No. 75,264

4 Claims. (Cl. 248-318) This invention relates to merchandise display apparatus for stores and more particularly to a suspended or pendulous collapsible display.

Eflicient operation of a grocery store necessitates effective use of all available space for display. Structures such as fresh produce tables and check-out counters, whose design isdictated by their function use a considerable amount of floor area but waste valuable space in height because of their low construction. Doubling the usable space around these structures without requiring more expensive floor area would therefore be a boon to these stores, a result obtainable by adapting the wasted space above the tables and counters for effective display purposes.

This invention teaches the effective use of normally wasted space above fresh produce tables and check-out counters as display areas by providing a unique display requiring no additional floor space but rather using the ceiling, beams, or the like for support.

The object of this invention is to provide an unique pendulous display unit above the tables, which display affords 360 degrees of display area, is sturdy in construction, is self-aligning in assembly, is very stable due to its peculiar interfitting structural elements, is lightweight, will hold chilled produce and crushed ice or the like and retain the melted water, may be quickly disassembled and stored in a minimal space for a short time as desired and then reassembled for displaying different goods, may be shipped in a compact disassembled form, is attractive in appearance, and is relatively in expensive to manufacture.

These and other objects of this invention will be apparent upon a reading of the following specification in conjunction with the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the novel display in its suspended form;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the dish or tray used with the novel display;

FIG. 3 is a side view showing the supporting wires and bars for the dish of HG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the ceiling supporting hook with the attached support bars of a disp y;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the joined suspension bars and supporting wires;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of the interlocking supporting wires under the dish; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of a modified interlock of that shown in FIG. 6.

Basically, the invention comprises a suspended or pendulous display which is readily assembled to include a produce-supporting disk or dish having a centrally depressed portion and a downwardly extending peripheral flangej A plurality of interlocking supporting wires exa flattened central portion 36 to facilitate joinder.

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means, preferably a hook 20, at 22. The tray or disk supporting wires 14 conform to the lower surface of the tray and cross at the center thereof 24 in an interlocking manner.

The disk 12 is preferably formed like a dish as shown in FIG. 2 to readily support merchandise such as fresh produce, candy goods, or the like. It possesses a generally gradually slanting concave geometry and also a sharply depressed central portion 26 which dually serves as a stabilizing means cooperating with support wires 14 and also to hold chipped ice and melted ice water or the like for chilled produce. The dish 12 also preferably possesses a downwardly directed peripheral flange 28 for stabilization of the suspended assembled display in a manher to be described more fully hereinafter. This dish 12 may be formed of any desired supporting material, of which molded plastic having fibrous glass reinforcement has been found to serve very adequately.

Extending beneath this tray is a plurality of supporting members 14 which extend beyond the periphery of the dish, the extending portions including a hook member 30. For convenience of identification, these members are called wires but are not to be limited to dimensions and rigidity normally associated with the term wire. A depressed portion 32 is formed in each wire to match depression 26 in disk 12. Also, a depression 34 is formed in the end of wires 14 to interfit with the downwardly extending peripheral flange 28 on the dish. Wires 14, preferably two in number, criss-cross at the center 24 of the dish and interlock at that point by the notched construction shown in FIG. 6. Both of the wires may possess This flattened area is notched as at 38 on at least one of the wires so that when they are interlocked they will not slide over one another but rather will stabilize the supported dish. Both of the wires may be notched or, on the other hand, only the lower one can be notched if desired since the walls of the notch then pinch tightly against the flattened portion of the upper wire due to upwardly directed forces upon the ends of the wire. This in effect makes the notched wire practically as strong as it would be if it were not notched. This interlock may be obtained by securing nu-bs to one or both of the wires to form channels similar to notches but on the periphery of the wires, if desired. This structure shown in FIG. 7 by nubs 6t) on wires 14 is less preferred than the notched construction.

Secured to each hook 30 on the ends of these wires is an upwardly extending suspension member 16. For convenience only, these members are designated bars. This connection between the hooks 30 and bars 16 is made as in FIG. 5 with suspension bar 16 having a flattened area 40 with an opening 42 therein through which the hook 30 of wire 14 is inserted. The plurality of bars 16, one for each end of wires 14, converge at a central point 22 above the dish 12 for attachment to a ceiling support means such as hook 20 as shown in FIG. 4. This attachment may be made by forming apertures 48 in the flattened areas of the suspension bar 16. Hook 46 may be inserted into the ceiling 17 by threaded means on the hook or by a bolted clamp and the like.

When it is desired to display merchandise such as fresh produce above the usual flattable tops used for such produce, hook 2b is secured to ceiling 17 and the display is assembled for attachment thereto by interlocking notched wires 14, placing disk 12 thereon, securing the lower ends of Suspension bars 16- to the hooks 30 of the wires 14, and inserting ceiling hook2ll through the several aligned openings 48 in the upper end of rod 16. This readily assembled display is very stable even though suspended from only one point and with only a few simple elements due to the interlocking notched supporting wires 14, due to the interfitting central depression 26 of the dish and 32 of the wires 14, and due to the interfit of downwardly directed peripheral flange 28 of the dish and depressions 34 in the supporting wires. Af;er assembling this unique display, produce of any type may be placed within the dish for perusal by customers. If desired the hook 20 may be rotatably mounted to the ceiling 17 so that the disk which already affords 360 of display area, may be readily rotated for even more efiective results.

Also, crushed ice or the like may be placed in the disk under and mingled with vegetables or the like. Central depression 26 collects any water from the melted ice until the display is again taken down. When it is desired to change the display to a difierent location or remove it for cleaning, the unit is readily disassembled and cleaned with water or the like. Further, if it is desired to have the entire space open where the display or displays are located, the units are quickly disassembled and placed in a minimal storage area anywhere in the. store.

Thus, there is provided a very effective display for productively utilizing otherwise Wasted space in a grocery store or the like, which unit is readily assembled and disassembled at will and may be stored or shipped in a compact area when not utilized.

Other advantages and uses, and various modifications of the device will be apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention, which invention is to be limited only by the definitions provided in the appended claims and the reasonable equivalents thereto.

We claim:

1. A pendulous display comprising a tray; a plurality of elongated tray supports extending beneath said tray; said supports having interfitting projections and recesses to interlock and stabilize said assembly; the bottom of said tray being configurated to interfit with said supports to prevent lateral shifting of said tray; a plurality of elongated suspension members extending above said tray, each being removably attached respectively to a terminal end of one of said supports; and removable supporting means attached to said members to support the display in a pendulous fashion.

2. A pendulous display assembly comprising a disk having a depressed central portion; a plurality of elongated metal supports extending beneath said disk and crossing at the center thereof; said supports being interlocked with each other at their crossing point in a readily unlock-able relationship and having a depressed central portion to interfit with said disk to obtain a stable assembly; a plurality of vertically positioned suspension rods, each being removably secured respectively on an end of one of said supports; and removable supporting means attached to the upper ends of said rods to support the display in a pendulous fashion and to allow the assembly to be quickly disassembled for storage.

3. A pendulous display comprising a dish having a downwardly directed peripheral flange; a plurality of wires extending beneath said dish, crossing at the center thereof, and having terminal portions extending beyond the periphery thereof; each of said wires having depressions to match said flange on said dish and thereby stabilize said dish; said wires having channel type readily disconnected interlocking means at said central crossing point to anchor said supports; a plurality of vertical rods, each being removably attached to one of said wire terminal portions, and all converging at a point central to and above said dish, and removable suspension supporting means attached to the upper ends of said rods at said converging point to support the display in a pendulous fashion.

4. A pendulous display comprising a dish having a sharply depressed central portion and a downwardly extending peripheral flange; a plurality of metal wires extending beneath said dish; crossing at the center thereof, and having terminal portions including a hook extending beyond the periphery thereof; each of said wires having a contour to match that of the lower surface of said dish to stabilize the assembly; at least one of said wires being notched at the crossing point to interlock said wires with each other; a plurality of vertical rods, each being attached to a hook on one of said wire terminal portions, and all converging at a point central to and above said tray; and suspension supporting hook means attached to the upper ends of said rods at said converging point to support the display in a pendulous fashion.

References (liter! in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 778,786 Kramer Dec. 27, 1904 941,448 Haglund Nov. 30, 1909 1,064,882 Baker June 17, 1913 1,160,345 Wakefield Nov. 16, 1915 2,128,703 Grandrnan Aug. 30, 1938 2,737,361 Petzke Mar. 6, 1956 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent N0 3 O8l O58 March 12 1963 Fred De Vries et al. I

It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

a Column 1,, line 34 after "water insert may be quickly and easily cleaned is simple to assemble and install "u Signed and sealed this 5th day of November 19680 (SEAL) Attest:

EDWIN L, REYNOLDS ERNEST WQ SWIDER v Attesting @ifiec Acting Commissioner of Patents 

1. A PENDULOUS DISPLAY COMPRISING A TRAY; A PLURALITY OF ELONGATED TRAY SUPPORTS EXTENDING BENEATH SAID TRAY; SAID SUPPORTS HAVING INTERFITTING PROJECTIONS AND RECESSES TO INTERLOCK AND STABILIZE SAID ASSEMBLY; THE BOTTOM OF SAID TRAY BEING CONFIGURATED TO INTERFIT WITH SAID SUPPORTS TO PREVENT LATERAL SHIFTING OF SAID TRAY; A PLURALITY OF ELONGATED SUSPENSION MEMBERS EXTENDING ABOVE SAID TRAY, EACH BEING REMOVABLY ATTACHED RESPECTIVELY TO A TERMINAL END OF ONE OF SAID SUPPORTS; AND REMOVABLE SUPPORTING MEANS ATTACHED TO SAID MEMBERS TO SUPPORT THE DISPLAY IN A PENDULOUS FASHION. 